Great Western Railway - The Renaissance of Rail

Transforming the railway in the South West

First Great Western's 43029 passes the site of Mutley railway station as it nears the end of its journey from London Paddington to Plymouth. By Geof Sheppard (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0] or GFDL via Wikimedia Commons

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This presentation will be delivered by Mark Hopwood FCILT, Managing Director, Great Western Railway.

Mark is in charge of managing the transition of the rebranded Great Western Railway (GWR) from the company formerly known as First Great Western.

By re-adopting the historical name, the company hopes to 'rediscover the pioneering spirit' of the service that first ran on the line in 1833 under Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

But this is more than a re-badging exercise. GWR has a far reaching plan to transform the railway in the South West.

Mark will describe the £7.5bn programme, which involves the electrification of tracks, the modernisation of stations and the introduction of a new train fleet to replace the High Speed Trains, triggering a cascade of local diesel rolling stock.

Mark will describe the thinking behind this transformation and the challenges being met along the way including the need for GWR to play its part in promoting the economic and social well-being of the region it serves.

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